Watched “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” for the second time yesterday. A really good movie (if you haven’t seen it yet)…this song really stuck to me all evening…I really like Beck’s version of it.
1000 Journals August 3, 2008
Here is how the film begins:
If you ask a kindergarten class how many of them are artists, they’ll all raise their hands. Ask the same question of 6th graders, and maybe one third will respond. Ask high school grads, and few will admit to it. (explained in Orbiting the Giant Hairball)
What happens to us growing up? We begin to fear criticism, and tend to keep our creativity to ourselves. Many people keep journals, of writing or sketching, but not many share them with people. (when was the last time a friend invited you to read their diary?) You will not be judged here. And you will have company. This is for you. For everyone.
Where the hell have I been all these years? How is it that I haven’t heard (ever!) about the 1000 journals?
Yesterday I went to see the documentary film called 1000 Journals with my friend Thi Thi. It is about a san Francisco graphic designer/artist called Someguy who decided in 2000 to send out 1000 blank journals into the world. He mailed many, gave many of them to friends who were traveling, left others in random spots in the city (next to a public phone, in the SF Weekly “box”, on a park bench, in cafes and bars…)
On the last page of each 220 page blank journal are instructions: to write/draw/paint in the journal, keep it for 2 weeks and then pass it on. People are asked to scan what they wrote and submit it to the website created for this purpose only. When the journal is complete, it is to be sent back to Someguy. It took 3 years for the first journal to make it back “home”. He has received more since (can’t remember how many), but certainly not close to as many as he’d like to. The project has turned into a search for the missing journals.
1000 Journals has become a movement…Andrea Kreuzhage, the filmmaker (comes from Heidelberg, Germany but has lived in Los Angeles since the 90s) became obsessed with the whole concept of these journals. This inspired her to make this amazing documentary film. She tracks down some of the people who have contributed to the journals (travelled all over the world to interview them), recreates the process Someguy went through to get this project launched. We were lucky enough to get to meet her after the film and ask her questions.
From the get-go of the film I thought my heart was going to explode. Thi Thi and I both kept giggling and squeezing each other’s arms every few minutes. This film, this idea, this creative process is so inspiring and full of life. The idea of having people express their creativity in a journal (something many people already do, but unfortunately too many others don’t), know that it will travel the world, use the internet to document and share the pages one by one is to me fantastic!
I needed to see this film. It was the nudge I needed since I’ve been feeling a bit depressed and uncreative lately.
This film will show this week only at the Roxie Theatre in the Mission district until Thursday, August 7th. If you are in the San Francisco area, try to see it. If not, you might want to check out the website to see where it will be shown in the future: www.1000journals.com
Here’s an interview I just found: Andrea Kreuzhage and Someguy riffle through “1000 Journals”
Kenny Shopsin’s half-baked Philosophy… March 30, 2008
watched this pretty good documentary the other day called “I like killing flies” about this restaurant in Greenwich village, owned and operated by Kenny Shopsin and his family. I highly recommended it..it shows a no-nonsense New Yorker (jewish) who shares his philosophy of life as well allowing the filmmaker all access to the success of his restaurant.
The following is shown at the end of the film. His honesty and simple in-your-face philosophy really caught my attention. Here’s just another way of looking at life.
Emma Thompson in “Love, Actually” September 2, 2007
I finally found this scene that I absolutely LOVE! The song and voice by Joni Mitchell plus the heart-wrenching performance by Emma Thompson when she realizes that her husband is having an affair has made this one of my favorite scenes.
When will the American people yell: ENOUGH! September 2, 2007
I went to see “sicko” today. You know, installment #3 of Michael Moore’s social crusade. Yeah, I really liked it. No, right this moment I will not go into a whole analysis into why I liked it. To me, he managed to get the important message across that this country of ours has another huge problem AT HOME.
Maybe because I actually grew up in Germany and that I go there at least once a year, I sort of see the way things work there and I know they are better than here.
Mind you, the criticism some people may have about the film is that he made it seem like Europe / Canada / Cuba (yes! Cuba!) is perfect and everything here in the US sucks. Nah, I don’t think that is what he was trying to say. He focuses his attention on the astronomical health care problem we have in this country. Simply put, millions of people don’t have it, the corporate greed of HMOs places people who even have health insurance into a game of chance when they get seriously ill. Europe is by no means perfect. Things are changing there too and I hear and see it every time I go home. But still, their people are cared for when it comes to health care, child care, maternity leave and pay…
In all the messages, stories, anecdotes and observations made in this movie, what hit home for me most was what one person said in the movie. I believe it was a French person being interviewed who said that in France the Government still works FOR its people. If the people are not happy with something, they take it to the streets. Now when they say “THEY”, they don’t mean only ultra liberal rebellious youths dressed in black, old hippies, peaceniks… (which seems to be what you see mostly here when there IS a protest every once in a blue moon)
No, when you see protests going on in Europe, you see THOUSANDS, sometimes millions on the streets…they are young, old, families with children, liberals, conservatives…they all, together, take their anger to the streets of the big and small cities. Almost every time I go home there is some strike going on in France or Germany or Spain…remember what happened in Spain after the 3/11/04 train bombings? On the 12th, thousands and thousands of people (2 million people in Madrid, 1.5 million in Barcelona, 400,000 in a city of 300,000) walked on the streets, in rain, in protest and anger. 3 days later, the government of then Prime Minister Aznar was defeated in the general elections.
When people smell shit coming from their governments, they (still) don’t take it.
This person added: the contrary seems true about Americans. They are afraid of their government and don’t dare speak up. Well, that and the fact that SO many people here are purposely kept in the dark, are distracted, kept uneducated and filled with fear. They are too busy working 3 jobs or paying close attention to what Paris or Brittney did yesterday…
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. What is it about the “upbringing” of this nation that makes people feel alone, isolated from each other, not willing or daring to get out on the streets to yell: I am mad!! Enough already!! I mean ordinary people in ordinary parts of this country. Not just the ones in large cities (and even here I am surprised at the small amounts of people who protest), but people everywhere. Why are the blinders down all the time? What makes a middle-aged mother in France feel completely ok with walking out of her house with her two children to protest. Why does she seem to feel it’s important enough. Why don’t Americans care in the same way?
Has this country been just too “protected” and isolated from the “problems and realities” of the world to see that now IT is in deep poopooh? What will it take for people here to get angry enough that they will not take it anymore?
On a more optimistic note, I believe that the Internet with its blogs, independent news, videos, facebook and myspace communication, the word is out and the new web-youth is listening and educating itself. Perhaps we need to wait for one more generation to finally wake up to the fact that there is a lot that is wrong in this beautiful country and that they do have the power to say: enough already!
I’d love to get answers to my questions. I’d love to hear from Americans and NON-Americans what they think of this. Hopefully someone will comment here and clue me in.
(I just reread a post I wrote last year when I happened to run into a protest called “the world can’t wait”. I wrote that I was uncomfortable with such demonstrations ~ I guess I’m not the screaming type, I wrote ~ it’s really funny to see how I have graduated in my attitude towards this. At this point I guess it’s better to have the rebellious youths, etc get on the streets than no one at all ~ my hope is that the mother with 2 children here in the US will finally do it too)
Images:
Protest in France against a new youth employment law
Protest in Spain after 3/11/04 train bombs
Ratatouille…c’est super! August 13, 2007
Yesterday, we went to see Ratatouile. LOVED LOVED LOVED it!
Boy, there are some talented people out there. It is nice to see that some people know what they are good at, pursue it and get hired for such genius projects as this one…We went to the matinee performance. Including us, there were maybe 5 other people there (what do you expect on a Sunday morning?), 3 of which were tiny little children who, it seems, finally got tired and either fell asleep or mom decided it was time to leave. It is a long film and maybe not for really really little ones.
I thought the film was really funny (love every scene where Remy’s brother Emil appears), the animation was amazing (they left no details out) and of course seeing Paris, the Eiffel Tower, la Seine, the Vespa (oh wait, that’s Italian…yeah but ze french ride them too) was a plus. There were also lots of really touching scenes. I won’t give it away, but think of me when “he” takes the first bite of Ratatouille…well, it doesn’t take much to get me all emotional and nostalgic, and that scene of course brought out my super duper German tissues.
I read a review that praised the film but only had one criticism. The fact that there were no “real” French accents. That’s true, but being acute to that, it really didn’t bother me. Oh, and Linguini looks like my 15 year old nephew (except he is blond) which was sort of adorable.
So if you haven’t seen this film, go! I’m not much of a movie goer anymore (got Netflix, love the comfort of my couch when watching a movie, get annoyed at people talking and making noises while I want to enjoy a film — especially sniffling — oh yeah, that’s my neurotic side! 
), but I am glad I went to see it on the big screen.
I am off today and am thinking about going to see “Sicko”.
Games of Love and Chance July 19, 2007
I just finished watching the French film “Games of Love and Chance”…I read a few reviews:
Village Voice
CineScene.com
and also on Netflix…Netflix review
I myself liked it. At first it seemed a bit annoying. Lots of screaming and even though I speak French fluently, I had to turn on the English subtitles because these are teenagers in the Paris Projects (HLM) who pretty much speak their own language. Lots of really fast and loud yelling. But eventually you grow to like (or at least be interested and curious about) each character for his/her unique personality. The filming itself also feels real, as though part of it was not prepared.
I’ve seen other such films where the quiet arab kid falls in love with the one beautiful blond girl who lives in the projects (See “Lila Says”). I got pulled into this one. The contrast/parallel story between these kids’ every day realities and the play that is being prepared in their class is well portrayed. One of the main characters, Kimo, just can’t get out or into the Harlekin character. The girl he falls for, Lydia, is sort of a star on stage, yet can’t make up her mind in real life (thus the title of the movie: L’Esquive ~ the Dodger). By the end of the film you feel something pulling in your gut…I found myself rooting for Kimo and hoping to find the end I imagined…
I recommend it.
MY favorite Youtuber: Lassegg May 10, 2007
This kid, Lasse Gjertsen, is 22 years old, from a town called Larvik in Norway. He is so talented at putting together short films that he has an amazing following. It’s been about 5 months since he last posted something and finally TODAY the anticipated video is here. As you can see, he posted it today and already has had almost 2,000 views and over 200 comments.
This is the latest one, and it comes in 2 parts. Please be sure to also see his other videos (click on his name “lassegg” in blue to the right of the video). My favorite is the first one I saw of his called AMATEUR.
A Lesson on Divided – about discrimination February 14, 2007
Here’s is an amazing Frontline episode about discrimination called “A Lesson Divided”:
On the day after Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in April 1968, Jane Elliott’s third graders from the small, all-white town of Riceville, Iowa, came to class confused and upset. They recently had made King their “Hero of the Month,” and they couldn’t understand why someone would kill him. So Elliott decided to teach her class a daring lesson in the meaning of discrimination. She wanted to show her pupils what discrimination feels like, and what it can do to people.
This video is divided into 5 parts. If you click on the video twice, you will be taken to Youtube. Once you watch the first part, you will be given the options of watching the other parts.
An Inconvenient Truth — by Al Gore December 26, 2006
Just watched Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” and even though it is quite depressing to watch, it is VERY important for all of us to realize the urgency of the state of this earth. As he says, this is the only one we have! For the sake of future generations we need to become aware of the truth. For more information, go to:
www.climatecrisis.net
